Portable Nuclear Substation fits in a truck

[gadfly56]

When the typical nuclear powerplant generates 600 MW_(e) and contains 100 tons of fuel rods, something that generates 1 MW(e) and weighs less then 40 tons* definitely qualifies as "small".

* just guessing about its weight, based on "fits on a truck".

Ahhhh, did you mistake a "G" for an "M"?

No details in this article, but Wiki shows SMR's up to 1GW are not necessarily a pebble-bed reactor design.

 

[ramsy]

It seems to me that 1GW is really pushing the definition of "small"!

Better to quote the Wiki laguage since I may have that wrong.

"Small modular reactors (SMRs) are nuclear fission reactors that are smaller than conventional nuclear reactors and typically have an electrical power output of less than 300 MWe or a thermal power output of less than 1000 MWth."

if I understand that language correctly, typical efficiency of SMR's heat to electricity is right around 30%

 

[ramsy]

As long as it fits in my DeLorean, I'm happy to call it small.

That DeLorean runs on 1.21 JigaWatts

 

[drcampbell]

... if I understand that language correctly, typical efficiency of SMRs heat to electricity is right around 30%

Yes, that's correct. But not limited to SMRs -- you can expect about that same efficiency from any thermal powerplant, limited by ambient temperature on the cold side of the thermodynamic cycle (Carnot) and metallurgy on the hot side.

 

[gadfly56]

Better to quote the Wiki laguage since I may have that wrong.

"Small modular reactors (SMRs) are nuclear fission reactors that are smaller than conventional nuclear reactors and typically have an electrical power output of less than 300 MWe or a thermal power output of less than 1000 MWth."

if I understand that language correctly, typical efficiency of SMR's heat to electricity is right around 30%

Somehow I doubt that a 1,000 MW_t plant is fitting on/in a trailer.

 

[winnie]

Somehow I doubt that a 1,000 MW_t plant is fitting on/in a trailer.

All depends on how long you want the output to last

 

[drcampbell]

It might also depend on how big your trailer is.

The Crawlers - NASA

A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters have carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 50 years at

www.nasa.gov

 

[gadfly56]

It might also depend on how big your trailer is.

The Crawlers - NASA

A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters have carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 50 years at

www.nasa.gov

OK, now you're just getting silly. As impressive as it is, I doubt even that would carry a 1,000 MW_t plant.

 

[gadfly56]

All depends on how long you want the output to last

Hmmmm, so, I wonder what the instantaneous output of a suitcase nuke would be?

 

[GeorgeB]

if I understand that language correctly, typical efficiency of SMR's heat to electricity is right around 30%

A good number for just about any properly operated turbine generator will be in the 25% to 35% range. Combined cycle can commonly be in the 50% to 60% range.

Combined cycle gas turbines | IPIECAhttps://www.ipieca.org › power-and-heat-generation › co...

 

[winnie]

Hmmmm, so, I wonder what the instantaneous output of a suitcase nuke would be?

By definition, 1 kiloton yield is defined as the release of 4.184*10^12 Joules of energy. (Number derived from the release of 10^9 kilocalories.)

 

[gadfly56]

By definition, 1 kiloton yield is defined as the release of 4.184*10^12 Joules of energy. (Number derived from the release of 10^9 kilocalories.)

The difficulty is converting it to equivalent electrical or thermal power, since power is the instantaneous rate of energy production, it would matter what time interval the yield was released over. Power output would (maybe) follow a Gaussian curve, as the production of neutrons peaked and dropped off once the fuel was too dispersed by the explosion to sustain the chain reaction? Any nuclear engineers in the house?

 

[drcampbell]

Yes.
I'm pretty sure it's not Gaussian. Nothing happens until it goes critical, then the nuclear reaction runs to completion pretty fast, (I've heard 30 ns, or "three shakes", but can't confirm) the temperature reaches something like a hundred million degrees C, and finally the core, ahem, disassembles itself and releases all that energy.

That's for a single-stage fission device. A multi-stage device is even less Gaussian.

 

[synchro]

The difficulty is converting it to equivalent electrical or thermal power, since power is the instantaneous rate of energy production, it would matter what time interval the yield was released over. Power output would (maybe) follow a Gaussian curve, as the production of neutrons peaked and dropped off once the fuel was too dispersed by the explosion to sustain the chain reaction? Any nuclear engineers in the house?

Yes.
I'm pretty sure it's not Gaussian. Nothing happens until it goes critical, then the nuclear reaction runs to completion pretty fast, (I've heard 30 ns, or "three shakes", but can't confirm) the temperature reaches something like a hundred million degrees C, and finally the core, ahem, disassembles itself and releases all that energy.

That's for a single-stage fission device. A multi-stage device is even less Gaussian.

There's more detail about this here:

https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq4-1.html

 

[ramsy]

Bill Gates is building a 350 MW sodium reactor in Wyoming, to replace coal plant and keep workers employed.

Bill Gates venture picks Wyoming city for sodium nuke plant

A small city in the top U.S. coal-mining state of Wyoming will be home to a Bill Gates-backed experimental nuclear power project near a coal-fired power plant that will soon close, officials announced Tuesday.

techxplore.com

 

[ggunn]

My father bought our first black and white TV in 1960 or 1961. It was an early non-console receiver. It was portable in the sense that you didn't need a crane to move it, although you might wish for one. My dad re-coined such items as "luggable".

Much more recently than that I goodwilled our 32" living room "portable" CRT TV and bought a similarly dimensioned flat screen TV to replace it. It took two of us to lug that 150lb behemoth out to the wife's minivan. I can carry the flat screen under one arm.

 

[gadfly56]

Bill Gates is building a 350 MW sodium reactor in Wyoming, to replace coal plant and keep workers employed.

Bill Gates venture picks Wyoming city for sodium nuke plant

A small city in the top U.S. coal-mining state of Wyoming will be home to a Bill Gates-backed experimental nuclear power project near a coal-fired power plant that will soon close, officials announced Tuesday.

techxplore.com

Well, good for Bill if he can find the capital for the project.

 

[drcampbell]

I hope he has better luck with it than the Fermi-1 sodium reactor in Monroe, Michigan.

 

[winnie]

This guy gives a fairly nice lecture about the 'Natrium' reactor mentioned in post #55

 

[gadfly56]

This guy gives a fairly nice lecture about the 'Natrium' reactor mentioned in post #55

Very informative, thank you for sharing.